OAK RIDGE NATIONAL LABORATORY TANK REMEDIATION PROJECT: SUCCESSFUL REMEDIATION OF 25 LIQUID LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE TANKS

摘要

This paper summarizes the tools used for cost-effective remediation of liquid low-levelradioactive waste (LLLW) tanks at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.This remediation strategy was originally presented in the Waste Management 1998 proceedings(1). Since publishing the 1998 paper, the Tank Remediation Project has remediated five moretanks, successfully integrated the remediation decision process with the larger watershedremedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS), and transitioned to the Bechtel Jacobs CompanyLLC for management under the new management and integration (M&I) contract.Since 1995 the Tank Remediation Project has remediated 25 tanks by integrating wastemanagement (WM) tank isolation activities with the environmental restoration (ER) fieldremediation activities. Most of the tanks remediated contained only residual LLLW that wasremoved and placed directly into the ORNL LLLW System for subsequent treatment. However,in 1998 the project began remediating tanks with residual sludge containing transuranic (TRU),Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA)constituents. This sludge could not be placed directly into the ORNL LLLW system withoutpretreatment. This paper will detail how these types of tanks were remediated in a cost-effectivemanner with regulatory involvement.The ORNL site is establishing long-term remedial action objectives (RAOs), includingfuture land use determination, in watersheds RI/FS that include these tanks. This paper willaddress how tanks are being considered in this document and the future watershed record ofdecision (ROD). The paper will also address the new direction of the Tank Remediation Projectunder the M&I contractor.